A downloadable visual novel for Windows, macOS, and Linux

Based on the characters from UNDERTALE by Toby Fox.




You ask your skeleton crush on a date. And he says YES!

But then the panic sets in...

What if you say the wrong thing? What if he realizes he doesn't like you?

Don't worry! Your friends are here to help!

.... or maybe, that's the perfect reason to worry.

This short visual novel was made in a month for NaNoRenO 2022. My focus this NaNoRenO was UI Design and Project Management!



  • 5,000 words
  • 28~ minutes for one playthrough
  • 4 choices
  • 4 endings
  • Full voice acting
  • 1 GREAT love interest
  • 3 of the worst best wingmen you will ever meet
  • 1 romantic date
  • Hold the awkward All the awkward

Team

DerpyChoCho: Dev/Programmer, Writer, UI Design

Mmishee: Character Artist

Davetastic Dave: VA - Papyrus and Sans

Blair TwoAllNighters: VA - Alphys

Cellochicita: VA - Undyne

Dan Does Voices: Sound Design


Q. What platforms will this be available for?
A. Windows, Mac, and Linux. I am NOT planning a mobile version.

Q. Will you translate this into _________________?
A. I'm sorry, I don't have any translations planned at this time.  That would require a translation team.

Q. I think this VN is too short. Can you make it longer?
A. This VN was made in one month for NaNoRenO 2022. I do not have plans to expand on it at this time.

Q. Who do you play as?
A. You play as yourself, the player! The MC is a human adult.

Q. When does this take place?
A. This takes place sometime after monsters arrived and settled on the surface.

Q. How do I get Ending 4?
A. To get that fourth ending, you'll have to pick one choice type of each of your friends (one Alphys, one Undyne, and one Sans).  It doesn't matter the order or which choice, but it MUST be one of each during your playthrough.  I hope that helps!

Download

Download
PC - v 1.0.0 170 MB
Download
MAC - v 1.0.0 135 MB
Download
LINUX - v 1.0.0 131 MB

Comments

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When I enter the game it just sends me and error and says that the file is corrupted. Does anyone know how to fix this?

YOU GOT TWOALLNIGHTERS AND DAVE TO VOICE THE CHARACTERS??? OMG HAHAHAH sctv is great

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I thought for a moment that the game was about trying to date them all. But the fact that we only date Papyrus, was so awesome. All the things that the characters say had me thinking that they would say the same thing. 

It is just so well done, I created an account only to say so. Thank you very much for your work. ((Also the voice actors were incredible)) ((More sans))

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I LOVE IT SO FECKING MUCH THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!

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I'm glad you love it!! Thank you so so much for playing!

it was my pleasure, honestly!!! :DDD

Help me! The game doesn't let me click on papyrus's message, please help!!!!!!!!

Btw, I put on my dad's computer, so..... Yeah

Sorry for the late reply! I'm not sure I understand what you mean by Papyrus' message. Can you send a screenshot of what you're trying to click?

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This game looked amazing you definetly outdone yourself this time especially since it took just a month to make. I can definetly see that your artworks/designs have improved dramastically over the many games you have done. (My favorite is sans staring at the stars and then back at the screen while seeing the reflection of the stars in his eyes) Its OUTSTANDING!!!!! Anyways I have 1 question. Are you perhaps planning on making more undertale dating sim (preferably sans)  because your games are out of this world!!! I wouldnt mine others tho. Anyways good luck on your future endeverous 👍

Thank you so much for playing and for your words! I have to say though, I only did the character art for Dating Start!  I'm glad you loved the CG of the Sans looking up at the stars with the stars in his eyes. That's still my favorite CG I've drawn. ✨💖

The character art for Hold the Awkward! (Papyrus, Alphys, Undyne, and Sans) were not drawn by me.  They were drawn by my friend Mmishee! I brought her onboard for the month challenge and she did amazingly!


And do I plan to make more Undertale romance visual novels? I'm actually not sure!  ^^;  I'm on a dev break right now. We'll see what the future holds.  :)

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Oh i see well, The art was eye catching, The sentences for each characters fit their characteristics to a tea and the voices and sounds where perfect. You have a great group of friends/team. Anyways im looking foward to your next work no matter how long it takes!

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Amazing game!
(+1)

This game is... AMAZING! I LOVE IT! I HAVE NEVER SIMP FOR PAPYRUS BEFORE, BUT DANG- AFTER THIS GAME? HOW THE HELL I COULD NOT SIMP FOR HIM?!?! goshhh i really love you VN's Derpy, especially Dating Start! and the Dating Side lmao. Again, you did a VERY splendid job on this game! I'm looking forward to your new projects!

LOL Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it!  I have to admit, I did love Papyrus before making this, though I didn't simp for him. But after developing this VN WHOOPS I started simping for Papyrus, too XD

I'm so glad you like my VNs!  It's always wonderful to know that others enjoy what I'm creating!  Hoping to make more in the future!

(+1)

I just played and did all four endings. Honestly- I have been looking into visual novels forever now. Where have you learned to create them? What do you use? 


Other than that: This game is so adorable. It shows romance in its purest form... I can't begin on how to explain how perfect this was. Thank you so much for everything! The time, the art, the LITERATURE- the way you wrote Papyrus's lines about the sun was beautiful. Keep it up!

"Romance in its purest form" oh gosh I'm speechless, thank you so so much! ;n;

That's wonderful to hear that you're interested in visual novels!  I use the Ren'Py engine to make my VNs. It's free and has a functioning UI right out of the box. There's even a built-in tutorial that's great for basics.

In regards to learning development, that's all self-taught.  I learned from just diving in and experimenting.  I started by making something small and silly just for me. It was five minutes long and I didn't release it.  But I learned the basics of Ren'Py by making it. Then I challenged myself in NaNoReno 2019 and learned even more.  I always learn with each VN I make.  And I always keep the Ren'Py documentation and Google close by.  :)

Wishing you all the best on your dev journey! 💜

(+1)

Thank you so much!

Sorry if that was much- i have strange impulses to write funny little things. Although- I always mean what I say!

omg ı l o ved this game and kept blushing but can someone help me with fourth ending ;-; i really wanna see how its gonna end !!

(+1)

Hi there!  Thank you for playing, I'm glad you're enjoying it!

To get that fourth ending, you'll have to pick one choice type of each of your friends (one Alphys, one Undyne, and one Sans).  It doesn't matter the order or which choice, but it MUST be one of each during your playthrough.  I hope that helps!

thank u s o much u are the b  e s t

(+1)

Yo Cho and everyone, I finally got around to playing it!! :D

And ahhhhH the memories. The puns. Their reactions. I REMEMBER IT ALL NOW!1!! The UI/GUI was so fun to play with, I can see why you needed that chart XD The voice acting was brilliant and went along with the writing so well!! It was short, really sweet, and fun dating Papy :3 Didn't think I could like his character even more! (I got all the endings, Undyne's advice was the first one I went with lolol) Fantastic work for a single month!! :D

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MIIIIINT!  I was supposed to comment on your game first noooooo XD  Okay okay, that just means I have to kick my butt into gear to write my comment.

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thank you thank you for playing!  And I love how you just cut to the chase first before everything else ahahaha!  YO LISTEN, that chart was my LIFE SAVER for that UI/GUI omg

(And honestly, I didn't think I could like his character more either. But developing this VN proved otherwise ^^;)

(+1)

Oh nononono it's perfectly fine XD and you're welcome! I honestly thought we should all just SHOW. THAT. LOVEEE!!! :D

(Just saying, playing this makes me super excited to play Dating Start! as my passion for Undertale has been reignited, whether that's a good or bad thing :'3)

(+1)

AHHHH! I WATCHED THE PLAYTHROUGH, IT WAS AMAZING! I SCREAMED AT THE END- I COULDNT- I LAUGHED SO HARD

I'm glad you enjoyed the playthrough!  And I'm happy you found it funny!  Thanks for checking it out!

OHDEDWIJED OHMYGOD THE DERPYCHOCHO THEMSELVES? AHAHIUWHNIS

(+1)

Ever since I first played Undertale, Papyrus has been one of my favourite characters, and now, finally I get to date him again! The art is excellent and the voices are just what I have come to expect from these characters! The UI is WONDERFUL too! And of course, loved all the different endings. It's a charming game!

(+1)

Papyrus definitely needs more love! I must admit, I grew to love him more while developing this!

Thank you so so much for playing! I'm glad you found it charming!

(+1)

So I just finally had a chance to play this game and OMG I ABSOLUTELY ADORE IT! IT IS JUST SO CUTE AND WHOLESOME! IT IS SO PERFECT IN MY OPINION! The music, the story, the characters, the voice acting, and just everything is 10/10! This is now one of my new favorite dating sim fan game and is definitely something I will really when I need a smile! Huge thank you to the team! YOU ALL ROCK!❤️❤️

AHHHH thank you so so much!  I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I just wanted to make something sweet and wholesome! :) And I had a great team with me! I'm so thankful they were onboard for this project!

Thank you for playing and for taking the time to leave your thoughts!

(+1)

Lmao, I made an itch.io account just to write this comment-

I saw the VA's of Alphys and Sans/Papy were playing this game, and I knew I had to play it for myself before I watched anyone else play it.

So, in short...

I LOVED THIS GAME SO, SO MUCHHHH!!!

Gahhh, I'm such a sucker for fluffy stuff like this, especially with a character that I like that no one else seems to like as much. It's super difficult to find Papyrus stuff, especially as well made as this is! I've gotten 3 endings so far, and have been satisfied with every single one! I don't exactly know what to do to get the fourth ending tho, lol. This game has single handedly reignited my love for Undertale, and I would love more games of this nature some day!! Fantastic job!

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THANK YOU FOR PLAYING!  I'm so happy you enjoyed it!  And I'm flattered you made an account just to leave a comment!

I really love writing fluffy, emotional stuff. And I had already made "Dating Start!" to fall for Sans.  So I figured... I might as well give the other skelebro some love, too!  (And honestly, I grew to love Papyrus more during the development!)

To get that fourth ending, you'll have to pick one choice type of each of your friends (one Alphys, one Undyne, and one Sans).  It doesn't matter the order or which choice, but it MUST be one of each during your playthrough.  I hope that helps!

And I'm glad to hear it! I love making visual novels. I hope to keep making more in the future.  :)

Ahh, okay! Thanks, I'll be trying to get the 4th ending soon then!

Yeah, definitely keep going strong on making visual novels and stuff! I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

i thought papyrus was mario at first lol

(+1)

THIS WAS SO GOOD. Holy crap. 

Everything in it was so well-made; the voice-acting, the art, the script; even if it was short. I did see your progress on Twitter, and was so excited when I saw it be released. It felt so canon. 

I got "Blushing Bones And Timid Kisses" by first attempt, and it was so adorable. The sunshine part? 10x more adorable. 

This was just so heartwarming!! Your UNDERTALE games never cease to leave me in wonder. Your work, and the team's, is just so amazing together!! :D Thank you for this experience!!

THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!

And I'm glad you thought it was heartwarming!  I really wanted to have those tender and vulnerable moments shine through.  But, of course, we have to have a bunch of awkward and embarrassing moments along the way LOL  It makes it more fun, I think XD

I love the "Blushing Bones and Timid Kisses" ending!  And I was so set on having Papyrus call the player "sunshine" by the end.  During pre-NaNoRenO, I was trying to think of a recurring element for the romance.  And the moment I remembered Papyrus asking about the sun, I thought "YES PERFECT WE'RE DOING THIS!"

Honestly, I'm so thrilled I was able to go into this year's NaNoRenO with a team!  They all did such wonderful work and I'm humbled that they wanted to collaborate with me!

I'm really glad you enjoyed the experience!  Thank you for taking the time to comment!  ^^

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ABSOLUTELY-awkwardly-adorable.!!! '(ᗒᗣᗕ)՞ *:・゚✧

As a Papyrus fan, I really enjoyed everything about this! I'm actually GM@perpymarie from Twitter, and I was able to watch your progress in developing this VN. The game is super smooth and I love how pink and light the color scheme is compared to your other VNs ^w^  (love that dating start plug you did with sans ;)

I couldn't stop giggling every time the characters would interact. My heart would just melt at how caring and loving Papyrus is. The writing is well done and everyone really stayed in character, especially the puns were well executed too!'(ᗒᗣᗕ)՞

The voice actors were amazing and I'm glad you chose them to voice all the characters because I personally love their voices when doing the UT comic dubs. (Which in my opinion, are my headcanon voices)<3

The artwork is so fresh and clean! credits to the artist! I love everyone's expressions, Especially Undyne's expressions, Papyrus's outfit, and also sans "(¬‿¬)" expression. The BG art and  BGM were so cute and fitting too!

Overall, you and everyone else really did a great job with this! Congrats on completing NaNoRenO 2022! 

Thank you for making this wholesome experience Cho!(ノ◕ヮ◕)ノ*:・゚✧


!!Spoilers!!

I managed to get all 4 endings quickly, and in my first playthrough, I had to cut to the chase. I love how Papyrus shows a different side of himself depending on your choices. My personal fave has got to be the punny way lol (◍>◡<◍)⋈。✧♡

THANK YOU!!  ;n;  I've said it before, and I'll say it again.... "Hold the Awkward" is a lie, it should say "ALL the Awkward" LOL

I wondered if you were the same person, but I wasn't completely sure! I'm glad to know you were checking in on the progress! The one thing I love about NaNoRenO is that people are able to see a condensed version of the development cycle.  And I hope people enjoy seeing all the effort that goes into making a visual novel (even if it's a short one!)  Also, I'm so glad you noticed the "DATING START!" plug with Sans.  ;)  I had to! 

I'm glad you thought the writing was well done!  (And I had to be punny XD)  I really love painting my emotions onto the page, especially in romantic/tender scenarios.  Of course, I try my best to keep it close to in-character as possible!  But at the same time I just say "forget it! let's go all the way!" and I allow for the tender moments to exist as they are, without filters.

I'm so thrilled I was able to cast everyone! They all did such a wonderful job bringing the story to life!  I'm still in awe of everyone's performance.

Also, I'm thrilled to have Mmishee as the character artist for this!  I really love her expressive, vibrant style!  It was perfect for the aesthetic I was going for!

And thank youuuuuuu!  NaNoRenO is honestly so much fun, even if it can be super stressful  @_@  But that's what makes it more fun!  ^^; 

!!! SPOILERS !!!

I really loved writing the different sides to Papyrus for the four endings!  It's funny, Papyrus mentions that there are many shades to the sun (aka the MC).  But I also wanted to showcase the many shades of him as well.  :)  I'm glad you liked the punny ending!  ヽ(*⌒∇⌒*)ノ  That was definitely the more silly, but flirty side.

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AWW!!! This was the sweetest thing ever!

I do feel like I initially felt like this romantic scenario with Papyrus would be a challenging one to tackle on. But your writing was amazing and every moment filled my heart with laughs, aww's, screams, and feeling warm and fuzzy. Great job for this game!   :)

THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!!  I'm really glad you think so!

I really strived for this to be full of a range of emotions, silly and embarrassing, but poignant and touching. I'll be honest, for the romance I really just allowed my heart to write without fear of what others might think in regards to those emotions. And my only hope is that the emotions would be warmly felt by everyone else. <3

(+2)

HELLO IT'S ME I'M BACK AGAIN

Before I get into everything else: I was actually watching your twitter through the development progress, and it was wonderful getting to see all the work and care go into it! It gave me an even better appreciation for the effort it took to pull this game together. And it all paid off! It really astounded me with all the little details you put into it despite the time limit - the caller ID bar, the ringtone, the charging ping and the charging symbol on the battery bar... it really lent to the charm of it all. All of your Undertale VNs really have their own tone and charm to them because of the way you chose to arrange the UI or how you focused on different mechanics with them, and it's an incredible thing to me!

NOW REVIEWING START

Artwork: Impeccable. Mmi's take on the sprites and expressions of the cast were on point, and her Papyrus portraits are so handsome!! But I have to give a shoutout to the way she drew Sans laughing, which audibly made me gasp when I saw it cuz it's so fucking cute. Even in the Pap game I keep looking at Sans rip.

Voicework: Once again, Dave batted it out of the park! It really is fun hearing him as the brothers, he does so well differentiating them and showing their character. Blair's work as Alphys was absolutely adorable, the stuttering and fumbling was ON POINT. But my heart goes out to CELLO AND THAT VOICE FOR UNDYNE HELLO??? It's a perfect fit in that hearing Cello's performance made me feel the same feelings I had the first time I saw Undyne: stupid and too bi for this.

Script: This was such a cute little romp! I've always adored Papyrus (who doesn't lbr) and he really shines in this game. I can't believe how SMOOTH he's gotten, someone really has stepped up his game since coming to the surface huh!! But beneath that he's still as big a sweetheart as ever, and reading his lines all tugged on my heart the same way he did in the original game.

!!! MINOR SPOILERS !!!





But the way I fucking lost it when I got to 'arms heavy knees weak my spaghetti'. I never saw it coming and it was SO good, thank you.

Thank you for yet another wonderful Undertale adventure, Cho!!

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YOU'RE BACK!!  I'm sorry that I'm replying so late!  I needed to take a day or so to breathe after the month long NaNoRenO rush!  I want you to know that I really do appreciate and look forward to reading your reviews!  They really make my day!  :D

Thank you so much for playing the VN!  And I'm glad you could see the development!  That's the fun of NaNoRenO!  Everyone knows that the goal is one month (the fact that everyone releases on April 1st is, uh.... unfortunate timing because everyone thinks it's a joke XD).  But we share as much of the dev process as we want!  And it allows people to see a taste of what truly goes into making a VN, even a small one! I do that in hopes that people will understand how much effort goes into one VN.

I love the NaNoRenO team I had so much.  They were all so amazing!  I knew I wanted Mmishee right away because of how vibrant and expressive her art is!  I knew it would match the aesthetic I was aiming for!  And for the voice actors, I wanted to make sure that the ones I cast could bring the story to life with the emotions I wanted to draw out.  LOL I'm glad Cello got you to feel that way!!  XD

I'm glad you like the writing!  I wanted this to be lighthearted and funny, but I also wanted it to be romantic and full of heartfelt moments.  I wanted Papyrus to show that range of emotions, as the love interest.

!!! Tiny, little sandwiches spoilers !!!

I HAD TO I HAD TO.  I remember writing this part and thinking "Yes. I'm going to make the joke."  I even put that in the voice direction LOL

Thank you again for another wonderful review and thank you for playing!!